Release Date: May 7, 2010
Rated: PG-13 Length: 125 minutes
Genre: Action/Adventure
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, and Samuel L. Jackson
GRADE:
When the first Iron Man film came out 2 summers ago it was considered by many viewers to be a critical success. People enjoyed its action packed storyline, the impressive visuals, and Robert Downey Jr.’s wise-cracking antics as the hero Tony Stark aka Iron Man. Yes many even compared it to The Dark Knight that summer and even said that it was one of the best comic book movies of all time. Now the next part might shock you a bit but I was one of the weirdos at the time that didn’t think to highly of the movie. In fact, I thought the whole film was mediocre at best, with some above average visuals, and some funny lines by Robert Downey Jr. and nothing more. That said though, at the time I thought there was a good base to build a good sequel off of. So, like your typical action moviegoer, I rounded up my dude friends and caught the Iron Man 2 midnight premier and prepared myself for some good old fashion summer action movie testosterone. After viewing the movie however, it turned out I was only partly right about it being better.
Iron Man 2 continues the story of billionaire turned international crime fighter Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and his Iron Man suit, six months after the events of the first film. Right now, the United States senate is trying to confiscate the Iron Man suit as a weapon for the military but Stark won’t let them have it because he has “successfully privatized world peace.” Meanwhile a Russian scientist named Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) has a grudge against Stark and his family and plans to execute his vengenance by making a suit of his own to kill Stark with. To compound this, Stark’s rival businessman Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) wants the Iron Man suit so he can make his own and sell it to the military and he’ll do anything to get his hands on it, even if it means working with Vanko. Now, Stark must suit up again to stop these two before it’s too late.
Robert Downey JR. as Iron Man prepares to blast some bad guys.
Now lets get the good stuff out of the way first and make no mistake there was plenty to like here. Like the first film the movie is non-stop visual eye candy. It has some of best computer film graphics around and it’s hard not to think Robert Downey Jr. and Don Cheadle look cool in their Iron Man suits. The film also doesn’t lack any star power either featuring some new faces like Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer. But by far the best thing about the film is Robert Downey Jr who plays the hero Tony Stark aka Iron Man. He brings out the best of Stark’s character like his ego, his narcissism, and playboyish attitude. Like the first film he is the life and soul of the movie and is the most fun to watch on screen.
But unfortunately the second film had many of the same problems I had with the first. As I said before I love Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark but where the film does well in the Stark department it does bad in the Iron Man one. Some of the best parts of this movie are when Downey Jr. is in his Iron Man armor but like the first he’s hardly ever in it. The film felt like there was maybe 30 minutes of Iron Man while there was about an hour and half of Tony Stark. The other problem I had was how underused some of the stars were in this film like Don Cheadle as James Rhodes aka War Machine and Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko aka Whiplash. Cheadle seemed almost bored throughout the movie and his character never seemed to take flight even after he became War Machine. Rourke was barely in the movie too and he’s the feature villain! The sad thing is that there were times in the film where you feel like Rourke’s character might finally explode and get exciting but it never happens. Using these two actors so lightly is kind of like using a gun to open a can of beans, it’s over kill! Sadly too, despite the impressive visuals, the action scenes are few and far apart during the movie. They all seemed to come at the very start and the very end with a long hour and a half lay over between them. Now this would be forgivable if the story was engaging at all but it’s not. It’s better than the first but at times the story ventures from being somewhat interesting to downright boring and confusing and it’s hard to sit through it. When the film picks up though it really does pick up, but the time in between those sequences can be so long you might fall asleep before they even come.
Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko aka Whiplash, still sporting his same hairdo from "The Wrestler."
In the end, the film is still far from awful and despite my criticisms it’s mostly a solid movie. When the film gets entertaining it really is hard not to watch and enjoy yourself but unfortunately when it gets bad it’s hard not to fall asleep too. It’s worth the watch and money for sure and hardcore fans of the first film will probably enjoy it too. The “iron”y is the second film might not be as successful as the first but I actually enjoyed it more.
A solid start to the summer movie season but don’t expect anything too special…
